Solstice med w 2 yr old / private guides ???

[lvjv]

I will be cruising Oct 30 On Solstice . we will be going to athens, sant, myk,kusadasi, sicily , and naples. I am trying to figure out where should I arrange for private guide and where can we reasonably do it on our own . We will have a two year old with us .I cannot carry her everywhere and I dont want to be struggling in eurpoe with a baby . Please help ? Recommendations please?

[cb at sea]

Well. you'll need a stroller! Will you have someone else with you---other than the child?

 

You should get a guidebook on the cities you'll visit and determine what it is you want to see and do, and if you even NEED a "guide" to do it. And, the book will give recommendations....also, check out the "Port of Call" boards on this site...a wealth of info!!!

 

Good luck!

[Kerry's Girls]

I've found highly regarded private guides for all of our European ports by reading through the ports of call boards here. (I've also been able to figure out the best places to go/things to see with toddlers). I like the idea of private guides because we can go at our own pace, see only what we want to see, and don't have to worry about my twins annoying any other passengers. And I don't want to have to worry about finding my way around - I like that someone else will be doing the driving/navigating, etc. Also, the private tours are much less expensive than the ship tours. Just make sure you leave plenty of time to get back to the ship since it does not wait for late passengers unless they're on a ship excursion.

 

Best,

Mia

[Essiesmom]

You should also join the roll call for your cruise. People pn the roll calls are always arranging private tours, and you might find others with young children who would like to share a tour with you. EM

[luv2travell]

this is my 3 year old on turkey private tours they provided his car seat when i asked for it..he just turn three here

[epixx]

I will be cruising Oct 30 On Solstice . we will be going to athens, sant, myk,kusadasi, sicily , and naples. I am trying to figure out where should I arrange for private guide and where can we reasonably do it on our own . We will have a two year old with us .I cannot carry her everywhere and I dont want to be struggling in eurpoe with a baby . Please help ? Recommendations please?

 

1. Athens: DIY. Choices are either taxi to city center or walk/metro with stroller. Taxi should be easier.

 

2. Santorini: never been there.

 

3. Mykonos: DIY. There's not enough to see with a private guide. Just walk around town. Oct/Nov is probably too cold for beach.

 

4. Kusadasi: private guide to Ephesus. There's also a water park nearby, but I don't know if it's still open at that time of year.

 

5. Sicily: Is the port Messina? If so, consider private guide or ship's transfer to Taormina, where you can walk with stroller. If it's not Messina, then I don't know.

 

6. Naples: What do you want to do there? We walked from port to palace and archeological museum there one day, and you can do this with stroller if you're careful about traffic. More recently, we had private guide for Pompeii/Amalfi Coast, but I don't recommend this trip for a 2 year old due to spending so much time in the vehicle. Also, the walking would not be conducive to a stroller.

 

Have a great trip!

[candhholidayadventure]

Hi,

 

We just returned from travelling on the Solstice on the 28th of September for 11 nights, we have 11 month old and a 2 1/2 year old.

 

We had a brilliant holiday, however the ports were challenging with Children.

 

In Santorini, we arrived at 2pm and were able to get on the second tender. However there many boats in port that day and even though we were on the second tender, there was at least 40 minute queue for the funicula. When we arrived a Fira, there were thousands trying to get down and it was time for my 2 1/2 year old sleep. So we found a cafe and put her to sleep on a couch while waiting for the queue to pass. We didn't take a strollers to Santorini and it would have been more difficult if we had.

 

Mykonos was great, we went straight to the beach and have brilliant time.

 

Istanbul and kusadasi we organised private tours through Travel Turkey [mailto:mehmet@samyelitravel.org] and asked for two car seats. There we three day tours, we asked for baby car seats. Except for first day the car seats we provided. We took stollers for both children, we went through the ruins the epheus with the strollers, it was reasonable easy, occasionally we stopped at spot and one person stayed with children while view part of the ruins.

We were travelling with a family group and in Athens we left the children on the boat with my brother. It would have been very difficult to do the acropolis with kids.

Naples we had been to before so we stayed on the boat.

If you have any further questions regarding the Solstice and children please don't hestiate to ask.